hucks216

Another recent pick-up - the EK I citation for Kapitanleutnant Heinz-Ehlert Clausen of U-403. He took U-403 on 7 war patrols from June 1941 to June 1943 and sunk 2 ships. The first of these, Empire Howard, carried the Convoy Commodore of PQ 14; the Commodore (Cdre E Rees) was not one of the 37 survivors after the ship sank in under a minute. This EK I represents the highest award he won during WW 2. This is his entry on Uboat.net - http://www.uboat.net...anders/167.html

It is certainly possible. I think a letter to the U-Boat Archive might be in order to see if they have anything on him.

Thanks for the comments guys. I have checked the Volksbund database and there are just 9 Helmut Welsch's listed as being KIA during the course of the war but none of them are sailors, and there is no mention of any of them being on the U-Boat memorials at Kiel & Laboe.

And finally, taken from U-Bootwaffe.net and showing the first 4 war patrols of U-18.

1st October 1938 Medal Citation - not bad for a landlocked country!! No doubt a 'percentage' award.

EK II Citation dated for 22nd November 1939. I am assuming that the EK II would of been awarded for the 3rd patrol when U-18 was used as a decoy for U-47 while that boat was on her Scapa Flow mission and would of been a mass award to the boats crew, or a percentage of them, and would of been awarded when they returned from the 4th patrol.

U-Boat Badge citation dated 19th October. U-18 completed her third war patrol on this date having sailed on the 2nd October.

Here is a very early U-Boat Badge grouping. They all belonged to Mechanikermaat Helmut Welsch of U-18 from U-Flottille 'Lohs' (which was renamed 3 U-Flottille.) The U-Boat Badge citation is dated for 19th October 1939 and as the badge was instituted on the 13th October 1939 I am assuming this citation would be a backdated one. The Service Award IV Class bears the signature of Doenitz while the 1st Oct 1938 Award citation is signed by Hans Eckermann.

The ranks of Ableseaman, Leading Seaman & Petty Officer still exist. For the first two it just depends on the trade of the person for their version of the rank. For example, a Warfare Specialist would be AB & LS but the equivalent for engineers would be ET & LET (Engineering Technician & Leading Engineer Technician), whereas for Petty Officer they would all carry that rank with the trade following afterwards so a Petty Officer in an engineering branch would be Petty Officer (ET) rather than a Petty Engineering Technician. The Rate of Ordinary Seaman no longer exists, it is AB 2 now with an Ableseaman (as you would understand it) being AB 1. As for the RNR branch, I am not sure as I haven't seen any. The only time I have come across RNR's that were recalled from civilian life in time of conflict were all posted into shore billets so that the regular sailors in those billets could be assigned to ships. I am sure there are exceptions to that rule, especially in the Mine Warfare role, but an ex-Radar or Electronic Warfare operator (for example) being recalled to the fleet after 5,6 or whatever years in civilian life would be very very rusty, out of date of current procedures and possibly not trained on the current equipment so it would be easier (and cheaper) to stick him (or her) into a shore billet where there is a regular sailor who does have those current knowledge & skills and assign that said sailor to a ship.

OM(W)1 is (or rather, was) the equivalent rank of an Ableseaman. OM (W) = Operator Maintainer (Warfare). The Navy brought in the OM branch around 1993 to combine the Weapon Engineering & Operations branches. It wasn't a success and in the past few years it has reverted back to being two separate trade branches, Warfare Specialist and Engineering Technician (Weapons Engineering).

Try this website... http://www.stampsx.c...l-datenbank.php ...put your FpNr in the box marked ' oder Nummer eines Nummernstempels' and press Return. However it doesn't list the numbers under 10000. The database is also available on cd-rom and as a stand-alone computer programme, but for the books & cd-rom you are looking at a few hundred £££'s.

Thank you Gordon for the information. For a relatively small unit (I recently read somewhere - can't for the life of me remember where - that the unit consisted of approx 100 men, including helpers) they seemed to of had a daunting amount of tasks & responsibilities.

I have a Wehrpass to a member of GFP Gruppe 560 which was assigned to 6 Armee during Operation Barbarossa. I was wondering if any member can tell me if it would of fallen under the GFP areas of responsibility to investigate the bombings in Kiev caused by Russian laid booby traps after the Germans had occupied the city etc, and to hunt down any of the sabateurs? Also, would it of been possible that this GFP could of been involved with the round-up of the Jewish inhabitants that were murdered at Babi Yar at the end of September 1941? In the campaign entries (see below) there are mentions of being at Kiev at around that time although there is a 3 day gap for the period of the Babi Yar massacre - would the GFP of moved off with units of 6 Armee during this gap or is it reasonable to assume that they would of still been in the city? I realise that there isn't a great deal of information available (at least in the English language) on the various GFP units so any thoughts, opinions & reasoning is welcome.

There are still countries that don't allow such vessels alongside. New Zealand springs to mind.

Ten months at sea doesn't actually mean 10 months at sea continuously, not for the current Royal Navy anyway. It refers to the time spent away from base port. In those 10 months she would of called at various ports to change crew members, receive stores (including food), conduct maintenance, R & R etc

It is certainly possible. While there is a ratio for 'sea:shore' time it is only a guideline. He could be scheduled to be on one boat for 30 months (for example), then become eligable for promotion after a year so leave that boat and spend a couple of months on course and on finishng the course join another boat. And when he was due shore time someone with his trade skills might be needed to take the place of someone on a boat so he could then be crash-drafted back to sea again before he thought he was due to - it happens alot! Or he might of just been loaned to a specific boat for a few months for whatever reason.

Many thanks for confirming that it is indeed Soviet/Russian.

I can't remember if the pin badge with the wings at top right was Russian or given to me at some other point in time from a US or Canadian serviceman, but thought I'd include it here just in case it is Russian...

Not a collecting interest but down the years I have acquired these items from various meetings with Russian sailors so I just thought that I'd show them here. The side cap & shoulder boards were acquired when I spent a day at sea onboard the Udaloy I class destroyer Admiral Levchenko in 2006 for which I exchanged a Royal Navy cap tally, while the pin badges were obtained from various sailors of the Soviet Union as good will gifts.

Final Pt - Post War Paperwork

Pt 5...Post War Paperwork

Pt 4...Crimea Shield Citation & PoW Discharge Sheet

Pt 3...Campaign Listing & Eastern Front Medal Citation

Pt 2... Birth Details & Unit Listings

Hello all, Just thought that I'd share this fairly recent addition to my collection, namely a WP (zweitschrift) & paperwork grouping to an Oberfeldwebel who served in Feldgendarmerie units from the start of the war. Erwin Boebel was born in Lodz in Poland.